Cupid won't be rushed back following Indiana Derby win

Cupid was scheduled to fly back to California on Tuesday from Indianapolis Airport, which is about 35 miles from Indiana Grand Race Course, where Cupid won the Grade 2, $500,000 Indiana Derby on Saturday night.

Cupid beat The Player by three-quarters of a length after a fairly demanding trip and earned a 95 Beyer Speed Figure, winning for the first time since a sharp front-running victory in the Rebel Stakes in March at Oaklawn briefly landed Cupid on the Triple Crown trail. But Cupid suffered an entrapped epiglottis that cut off his air in the Arkansas Derby and had minor surgery to repair the problem, which took him out of Kentucky Derby consideration. He returned on the Belmont Stakes undercard and finished fifth as the favorite in the $100,000 Easy Goer Stakes, and his connections were pleased to see him back on form Saturday night.

“He was ready for a tough race the other day, and he got it,” trainer Bob Baffert said on Monday. “He’s not back home yet, but it sounds like he came out of it well.”

Cupid had to be used early to avoid being hung wide around the first turn, then dueled on a demanding pace, put away his front-end rivals, and had to fend off a final challenge from The Player. He failed to change leads in the homestretch, but Baffert said jockey Rafael Bejarano told him he never really gave Cupid a chance to switch leads.

“He said he was running hard, and he didn’t want to break his momentum,” Baffert said.

There are no set plans for Cupid yet.

“I’m not even going to think about it until he gets back,” Baffert said. “After a hard race like that, we’ll give him a little extra time.”

Baffert is well stocked with 3-year-old dirt-route horses for the rest of the summer, with American Freedom, Danzing Candy, and Arrogate also on racing patterns.

Family Tree to get break

Having won two graded stakes in 15 days, Family Tree is due a little breather, and she will get one now at trainer Wayne Catalano’s base at Keeneland after winning the Grade 2, $200,000 Indiana Oaks by three lengths Saturday night.

Family Tree barely more than two weeks earlier had won the Grade 3, $200,000 Iowa Oaks at Prairie Meadows, and she had come out of the race so well that Catalano saw no reason not to run her back at Indiana Grand. Family Tree rewarded his confidence with a top performance, earning a career-best 90 Beyer despite the Indiana Oaks unfolding at a slow pace.

“She came out of it very well, but obviously she’ll need a little time now,” Catalano said.

With two graded stakes wins this year, Family Tree could try a Grade 1 next, and the most logical spot is the $600,000 Alabama Stakes on Aug. 20 at Saratoga.

Brooklynsway gets a 96

The 4-year-old filly Brooklynsway won as impressively as any horse on the six-stakes Saturday night card at Indiana Grand, and she got the highest Beyer on the program, 96, for her 8 1/2-length romp in the Mari Hulman George Stakes. That was a career-best figure for Brooklynsway, who has been put on a very active schedule and was making her seventh start since March.

“I’m amazed that as much as I’ve run her, she’s still strong and durable,” said trainer Bernie Flint. “She doesn’t carry her race with her. She’ll come from behind. She’ll go to the front. She’ll work with the group she’s in there with.”

Flint said Brooklynsway is a possible runner in the Groupie Doll Stakes at Ellis Park, though that is by no means a certain next race for the filly.

Plans aren’t set either for Departing, who won the Michael G. Schaefer Stakes for his first victory since capturing the Firecracker in June 2015.